Isaiah 18
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
An Oracle concerning Ethiopia
18 Ah, land of whirring wings
which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia;
2 which sends ambassadors by the Nile,
in vessels of papyrus upon the waters!
Go, you swift messengers,
to a nation, tall and smooth,
to a people feared near and far,
a nation mighty and conquering,
whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
you who dwell on the earth,
when a signal is raised on the mountains, look!
When a trumpet is blown, hear!
4 For thus the Lord said to me:
“I will quietly look from my dwelling
like clear heat in sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over,
and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off the shoots with pruning hooks,
and the spreading branches he will hew away.
6 They shall all of them be left
to the birds of prey of the mountains
and to the beasts of the earth.
And the birds of prey will summer upon them,
and all the beasts of the earth will winter upon them,
7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord of hosts
from a people tall and smooth,
from a people feared near and far,
a nation mighty and conquering,
whose land the rivers divide,
to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.
Isaiah 18
Expanded Bible
God’s Message to Cush
18 ·How terrible it will be for [Woe to; or Listen,] the land beyond the rivers of ·Cush [or Ethiopia; C the upper Nile region].
·It is filled with the sound of wings [L …the land of buzzing wings; or …the land of flapping sails].
2 That land sends ·messengers [envoys; ambassadors] across the sea;
they go on the water in boats made of ·reeds [papyrus; C light and speedy].
Go, ·quick [swiftly] messengers,
to a people who are tall and smooth-skinned,
who are feared ·everywhere [far and wide].
They are a powerful nation ·that defeats other nations [or who speak a strange language].
Their land is divided by rivers.
3 All you ·people [inhabitants] of the world, look!
Everyone who lives in the world, look!
You will see a ·banner [standard; signal flag] raised on a mountain.
You will hear a trumpet sound.
4 The Lord said to me,
“I will quietly watch from ·where I live [my dwelling place],
like ·heat in the sunshine [L glowing heat upon the light],
like ·the dew [L a cloud of dew] in the heat of harvest time.”
5 The time will come, after the flowers have bloomed and before the harvest,
when ·new grapes will be budding and growing [the flower becomes a ripening grape].
·The enemy [or The Lord; L He] will cut the plants with pruning knives;
he will cut down the ·vines [branches; tendrils] and take them away.
6 They will be left for the ·birds [or birds of prey] of the mountains
and for the wild animals.
Birds will feed on them all summer,
and wild animals will eat them that winter.”
7 ·At that time [L In that day] ·a gift [tribute] will be brought to the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]
from the people who are tall and smooth-skinned,
who are feared ·everywhere [far and wide].
They are a powerful nation ·that defeats other nations [or who speak a strange language].
Their land is divided by rivers.
These gifts will be brought to the place ·of [L of the name of] the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts],
to Mount Zion.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.